With releasing its second-quarter earnings on Monday, the US-listed Chinese EV trio - , Motors, and Li Auto - have all reported results for the quarter.

So, how do they compare?

Revenue

Nio's revenue in the second quarter was RMB 8.448 billion, the highest of the three companies. The figure was up 127.2 percent year-over-year and up 5.8 percent from the first quarter.

Nio's vehicle sales revenue for the quarter was RMB 7,911.8 million, up 127.0 percent year-over-year and up 6.8 percent from the first quarter.

Li Auto's revenue ranked second at RMB 5.039 billion, up 159 percent from the same quarter last year and 40.9 percent from the first quarter.

It reported vehicle sales revenue of RMB 4.9 billion in the second quarter, up 41.6 percent from the first quarter.

Xpeng had the lowest revenue of the three companies, with RMB 3.761 billion in the second quarter, up 536.7 percent from a year earlier and 27.5 percent from the first quarter.

The company reported RMB 3.584 billion in auto sales revenue for the second quarter, up 562.4 percent year-over-year and up 27.5 percent from the first quarter.

(Graphic by CnEVPost)

Losses

Xpeng posted the highest loss and Li Auto the lowest in the second quarter.

Xpeng reported a net loss of RMB 1.19 billion in the second quarter, up 52 percent from RMB 786.6 million in the first quarter and up 718 percent from the same quarter last year.

Excluding share-based compensation expenses, Xpeng's net loss for the second quarter was RMB 1.096 billion, up 42 percent year-over-year and up 57 percent from the previous quarter.

Nio's net loss in the second quarter was RMB 587.2 million, down 50.1 percent year-over-year and up 30.2 percent from the first quarter.

Excluding share-based compensation expenses, Nio's adjusted net loss for the second quarter was RMB 336.0 million, narrowing 70.3 percent from a year earlier and down 5.3 percent from the first quarter.

Li Auto reported a net loss of RMB 235.5 million in the second quarter, a decrease of 34.6 percent from the first quarter. The company's adjusted net loss was RMB 65.1 million, a 63 percent decrease from the first quarter.

Vehicle Delivery

In terms of vehicle delivery data, Nio had the highest delivery volume and the highest selling price of cars in the second quarter.

Nio delivered 21,896 units in the second quarter, up 111.9 percent year-over-year and 9.2 percent from the first quarter.

It delivered 4,433 units of the ES8, 9,935 units of the ES6 and 7,528 units of the EC6.

Li Auto delivered 17,575 new vehicles in the second quarter, up 166.1 percent year-over-year and a new high.

Xpeng delivered 17,398 vehicles in the second quarter, up 30 percent from the first quarter and up 439 percent year-over-year.

Gross Margin

Li Auto's gross margin surpassed Nio's in the second quarter, making it the highest of the three companies.

Li Auto's gross margin was 18.9 percent in the second quarter, up from 17.3 percent in the first quarter and 13.3 percent in the year-ago quarter.

The company's vehicle margin was 18.7 percent in the second quarter, up from 16.9 percent in the first quarter.

Nio's gross margin was 18.6 percent in the second quarter, doubling from 8.4 percent in the second quarter last year, but below market expectations of 19 percent and 19.5 percent in the first quarter.

Its vehicle margin was 20.3 percent, up from 9.7 percent in the second quarter last year, but weaker than the 21.2 percent in the first quarter this year.

Xpeng's gross margin was 11.9 percent in the second quarter, up from 11.2 percent in the first quarter. Its gross margin was -2.7 percent in the same period last year.

The company's vehicle margin for the second quarter was 11.0 percent, compared with -5.6 percent for the same period of 2020 and 10.1 percent for the first quarter of 2021.

Expectations for Q3

Looking at their expectations for deliveries in the third quarter, Li Auto is expected to have the highest deliveries among them and Xpeng will be the lowest.

Li Auto expects to deliver 25,000 to 26,000 new vehicles in the third quarter, an increase of 188.7 percent to 200.2 percent over the same period last year.

The company expects third-quarter revenue to total RMB 6.98 billion to RMB 7.25 billion, an increase of 177.8 percent to 188.9 percent over the same period last year.

Nio expects third-quarter vehicle deliveries to be in the range of 23,000 to 25,000 units, an increase of approximately 88.4 percent to 104.8 percent from the same period last year.

Its revenue will range from RMB 8,913.0 million to RMB 9,631.1 million, an increase of approximately 96.9 percent to 112.8 percent over the same period last year.

Xpeng expects vehicle deliveries in the third quarter of this year to range from 21,500 to 22,500 units, an increase of approximately 150.6 percent to 162.3 percent year-over-year.

Its revenue is between RMB 4.8 billion and RMB 5 billion, an increase of approximately 141.2 percent to 151.3 percent year-over-year.

NIO's insurance registrations in Jan-July exceeded the total of Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi EVs in China